Even in death
by Lily Maxwell The Dark Angel
Summary: (Side-story to "Shades of a soul". Warning: mention of death and major swearing) Bakura was deadly wrong about what he thought about Yugi... but he knows he's right about what happened to Ryou. And he just can't take it anymore... But was he really right?
1. Even in death

A/N: Hello, and for those who already know me, hello again!! ^-^ Okay, so didn't I say I'd write a Bakura/Ryou fic soon? Well, here it is!! It is, actually, also a side-story to _Shades of a soul, so if you could please read that other one, I'd be grateful... However, you don't need to actually read that fic to understand this one ^^ Hope you guys like it, so let's begin!_

**Disclaimer:** Ugh, why do people think I own Yu-Gi-Oh!? I DO NOT!! And never will... If I did, would you think Anzu/Tea would still be alive?! NO WAY!! Also, Yami would admit his love for Yugi ^-^ And Bakura would admit his love for Ryou too, even though he's so bad =P

**Disclaimer 2:** I do not own the song "Even in Death", it belongs to the people from _Evanescence..._ AND THEY ROCK!! ^_^

**Warning:** This fic contains _shounen ai_, plus mentions of death/suicide... if it disturbs you, please, do not read. Also, there's major swearing (we're talking 'bout Bakura in here...).

**Pairings:** Bakura/Ryou, slights bits of Yami/Yugi (in the Epilogue)

**Keys:** "__" means talking, '__' means thinking, and _italic means flashback_

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**Even in death**

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**_By: Lily Maxwell_**

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~ **_Give me a reason to believe that you're gone  
I see your shadow so I know they're all wrong_** ~

He walked through the dark cemetery, walking towards a certain gravestone. His eyes were dull and full of pain, wanting it all to end. They said the one he loved was gone, but he refused to believe. Still after 5 months, he refused to believe.

Because the one he loved still talked, touched and kissed him like before, his voice still sweet and calm, his eyes still soft and full of love. For him.

They were all wrong. For Ryou was still with him, Bakura.

  
~ **_Moonlight on the soft brown earth  
It leads me to where you lay _**~

The moonlight guided him through that darkened land, where so much slept in peace, never wanting to be disturbed anymore. After some time, with the wind blowing his white hair, his sorrowful brown eyes found what they were looking for.

"In the loving memory of

Ryou Kyoushi (A/N: made up, of course)"

He fought back a sob, for he would not cry. He knew he wasn't gone, and that was what really counted.

  
~ **_They took you away from me but now I'm taking you home_** ~

Anger suddenly filled the body of Bakura, that he even bit his lip, making some blood come out of the little wound, making its way down his chin. The fact that he was almost gone wasn't what angered Bakura, but it was what really caused him to almost leave the white-haired boy.

His parents hated Ryou so much that they killed him. No one knew, but Bakura did. Oh, he did, but he could tell no one. For no one would actually believe him. Why would they? Would they rather believe two examples of great citizens, or would they believe in a boy that had gotten into too much trouble for his own good?

Taking something out of his jacket's pocket, the object shone in the moonlight, and Bakura made some smooth movements with it before he stopped to just stare at it. The knife's blade looked so tainting to Bakura's eyes...

And kneeling in front of Ryou's grave, Bakura let the blade touch deeply into his wrists, letting Bakura be amazed by his own blood. So beautiful, a crimson color that really contrasted with his pale skin.

Bakura knew this was a bad way to die, because it hurt. It hurt too much.  
  
~ **_I will stay forever here with you  
My love   
The softly spoken words you gave me  
Even in death our love goes on_** ~

They say that when you are dying, your whole life flashes before your eyes. And that was what Bakura really wanted. For each minute, each second of pain, he would remember about his life. He would remember some bad things, but he... would remember him. He would see clearly Ryou.

And he really did.

~~

_"C'mon, get up!!" Bakura heard, as he was passing a dark alley. Raising one eyebrow, Bakura glanced at the one who spoke, finding it difficult for someone to be there. And also, the harsh tone got Bakura's attention._

_"Please.... stop........." claimed a voice, and Bakura looked at the ground, only to find someone there. A few more instants, and Bakura's mind was finally able to notice that the other boy, that he had heard first, was actually beating up the second boy, on the ground._

_The second boy's voice seemed so fragile, and broken... and as the sounds of beatings, flesh meeting flesh, Bakura managed to realize the second boy was a lot weaker and smaller then the first one._

_And Bakura could be bad. But he was fair._

_"Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Bakura hissed, running and kicking the other boy off of the poor boy on the ground._

_As the silence followed, with the big, fat and angry boy glaring murderously at Bakura, the only thing that could be heard was the other boy's silent sobs and whimpers. Bakura grit his teeth, realizing that he was really right, the second boy was a lot weaker than the one he was now glaring at._

_"Hey, mind your own business, asshole!!" the fat boy cried out, and charged forward, in an attempt to hit Bakura._

_With great skill and grace, he easily dodged the big boy's attack, himself preparing for attack. With a few blows here and there, Bakura was the obvious winner, and the other boy ran away, his nose bleeding, his stomach hurting, and his eyes deeply hit._

_Turning around with a frown, Bakura managed to see through the darkness the figure lying on the ground, and kneeled beside it._

_"Are you okay?" he asked, more in curiosity than with real concern. When he didn't get an answer, he reached out to touch the boy, and almost drifted his hand from his right away. In a second try, he managed to touch the boy's face._

_His fingers gently touched the boy's cheek, feeling a surface really smooth and soft. Looking more closely, he managed to see through the few rays of light coming into the alley, that the skin was really as pale as Bakura's, but a lot more... feminine, maybe? But he noted that..._

_The boy was deadly cold._

_Really careful, Bakura lifted the boy in his arms, and was quite amused by how light he seemed to be. Walking out of the alley, and into the low light of early evening, his eyes went wide._

_For the boy in his arms looked like an exactly replica of him. Only... cuter..._

_'I did not just think that. I don't said such things as "cute"...' Bakura thought. But he noticed the boy's face was stained with blood and a whole lot of his clothes as well. Biting his lip, he carefully walked through the streets towards... his house?_

_There was no one there, and the boy looked pretty much in a bad situation... but he wasn't dead. Bakura could take care of him (because he couldn't just leave him like that, or he would have to deal with his annoying conscience later.. or what was left of it), and then he would go away, and his life would be normal again._

_Oh, and he would have the glory of being a hero, and the boy could give him a kiss of gratitude..._

_'Fuck, Bakura! Stop thinking nonsense!! Why the heck would you want the boy to fucking kiss you?!' he thought angrily._

_After a few more blocks, Bakura reached his house. Looking rather old and needing some repairs here and there, he opened the door carefully, still with the boy in his arms, and walked to the Living room._

_Placing the boy on the couch, he hurried to the bathroom, where his first aid kit was. Getting it, he quickly made his way to the living room and knelt in front of him, taking care of his injuries._

_When he took the boy's shirt off, he was even more impressed than before. The boy's skin was so beautiful... he traced with his fingers imaginary tracks, never getting tired of the soft skin._

_With all precautions possible (never knowing he could be so gentle and caring in his whole life), Bakura took care of the boy's wounds and injuries, just knowing he would really want the boy to wake up soon. He wanted to hear his voice, look into his eyes... He felt pretty much attracted to this boy, and what he wanted... he always got._

_After cleaning and aiding all of his injuries, Bakura just sat on the floor, watching the boy's peaceful sleeping face. His skin was still rather cold, but after Bakura's touches, and after he took care of his wounds, he seemed a little warmer._

_It didn't really take too long for the boy to wake up. About just a few minutes later (maybe because he hurt too much), he groaned and slowly blinked his eyes open, gazing around in total wonder, totally clueless and curious about where he was._

_"Hi." The boy heard close to him, and almost jumped, if his wounds didn't hurt so much._

_"Who... are you?" the boy asked in a sweet tone, recognizing the voice, but not the face of this taller teen._

_"I'm your savior, please worship me." Bakura said jokingly, and the boy blinked._

_"You helped me from Kurt?" he asked, and Bakura, assuming he was talking about the fat boy, nodded. "Why?" he asked, tilting his head to the side._

_"Shit, I helped you, don't go around asking me why, you should just be grateful I helped!" Bakura said, a bit angry. The truth was he didn't want people to know he was good to weaker people than himself._

_"Gomennasai..." the boy said, his eyes slightly wide, a bit taken back. A few more minutes later, he completed. __"Arigatou."_

_Bakura sighed. __This cursed boy had way too much of a soft convincing and lovely voice._

_"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Bakura said, before looking into the boy's eyes again. "What's your name?" he asked. The boy blinked, and smiled to him._

_"Ryou. My name's Ryou. What's yours?" he asked, and Bakura sighed._

_"Bakura." He answered, and the boy, Ryou, bowed his head a little for him._

_"Thank you for helping me, Bakura-san." He said, thanking Bakura again. Looking over his body, he looked up at Bakura. "Did you take care of my wounds?" he asked._

_"Yeah, right, now you _must _love me." Bakura said smirking, while Ryou blinked but blushed a little. Getting a little more serious, Bakura frowned. "But you need to see a doctor, you've loosen... quite a lot of blood."_

_Ryou nodded and tried to stand up, but failed miserably. Before he could reach the floor, however, Bakura grabbed him, and he ended up trapped against Bakura's chest._

_Looking up, he found the other one smirking._

_"Hello." He said raising one eyebrow, making Ryou blush._

~~

That was the day Bakura met Ryou. He smirked, knowing that the two he hated the most, Ryou's parents, failed on their mission. Ryou didn't go away. Oh no, he was still with Bakura. And he would be with him forever.

  
~ **_Some say I'm crazy for my love, Oh my love  
But no bonds can hold me from your side, Oh my love_** ~

He remembered... when Ryou died. Bakura went through the worst depression ever known. He didn't eat, didn't go to school, didn't move... didn't blink and he didn't even know if he breathed at all...

One day, walking through some path near the park, full of trees, Bakura thought if he had gone mad. Because he saw Ryou. And he smiled to him.

He told, the next day, his best friend Malik about what he saw. Malik just said he was going crazy about Ryou's death, and that he needed to try and forget about him.

But he didn't know that Ryou and Bakura couldn't be apart.  
  


~ **_They don't know you can't leave me  
They don't hear you singing to me_** ~

He kept seeing Ryou in that same place, near the park, in a path that leaded to one of his friends' house, _always meeting him there. Bakura knew that, even though he wad dead, he couldn't leave him. Because Ryou loved him, and he loved him back._

No one, Bakura realized, would ever understand. Because they didn't know that Bakura and Ryou couldn't be apart, ever. They didn't her Ryou's melodic voice singing Bakura into a daydream about his lost love, but always in Ryou's arms. He could touch him. He could kiss him.

And no one would ever understand them.  
  
~ **_I will stay forever here with you  
My love  
The softly spoken words you gave me  
Even in death our love goes on_** ~

Even now, bleeding to death, he could almost hear Ryou singing to him a lullaby. A lullaby for him, to trick Death and never let them be apart again. The crimson liquid never stopped falling, always reaching the earth beneath him, draining more and more the life out of the teenager.

But it was good, since he couldn't take it anymore. He knew Ryou was dead, but after their encounters stopped 3 months ago he noticed that they wanted to take him away from Bakura for real. And he couldn't let it happen.

Because Death wouldn't stop him from loving.

Of course it wouldn't. Just because some said he was psycho, insane, and mean... he could love. And the one that was blessed with such strong and truthful feeling was Ryou. And he wanted to be with him.  
  
~ **_And I can't love you, anymore than I do_** ~

Bakura, slowly and in deep pain, felt as he was loosing consciousness little by little, each mere second seemed like an eternity for one who wished to die once and for all, claiming his right love, and wanting to laugh in the face of Death, who dared to mock him.

Because even now, 5 months after Ryou's death, Bakura couldn't love him any more than he already did.

Closing his eyes, Bakura felt his body slowly going limp, and his soul wanting to run. Run away and leave the lifeless body there, by his love's grave, and run towards where he belonged.   
  


~ **_I will stay forever here with you  
My love  
The softly spoken words you gave me..._** ~**_  
_   
  
**

Opening his eyes, Bakura looked around to find himself surrounded by trees, the wind wanting to blow him away. But it failed.

Because he could feel nothing.

He was a lost soul waiting for it's final judgement. After all the bad things he had done, would he be spared from eternal punishment, and finally enjoy what they so cruelly took away from him, when it was not the time for it?

Hearing some sounds of footsteps, Bakura widened his eyes in happiness and surprise. Images from previous times of encounters with this one face jolted in his memory, and he smirked.

_"You don't have to be so angry about it." He rolled his eyes. Bakura just glared at the piece of paper, while he sighed._

_"I tell you, Ryou, this is evil's doing!" Bakura said through gritted teeth, motioning to his paper, where there were lots of Math problems. Ryou giggled._

_"Evil doing is stalking one just to get him to stay with you." Ryou smirked, while Bakura frowned playfully, and stuck his tongue out at him. So what if he stalked Ryou? He couldn't get to talk to him often, since they studied in different schools and all..._

_"I wasn't _stalking_ you! I was just..." Bakura thought. Oh hell, fuck it, he was really stalking the white-haired-shorter teen._

_"Thinking about a way to talk to me?" Ryou asked, and Bakura nodded, glad that he thought up an excuse for him. "You don't have much touch, do you?" Grinning, Bakura leaned over him._

_"We can see about that." he purred, and Ryou blushed deeply. Bakura smirked. His mission was accomplished._

_"I-I... I can help you with that, if you want..." Ryou said difficulty, while Bakura, still grinning, nodded. Ryou took the book out of Bakura's hand and started to read the topic, in hope to get Bakura's attention on _Math only_._

_While he read through the pages, Bakura scanned him with his eyes, and frowned when he saw some blood on Ryou's shirt. Leaning over, he took the book unceremoniously from Ryou's hands, and grabbed his shoulders. Looking into deep dark pools of chocolate orbs, Ryou was startled._

_"Take the shirt off. Now." Bakura demanded, and Ryou gulped, while blushing._

_"N-nani?" he managed to squeal, and Bakura sighed. With his finger, he pointed to the small bloodstain on the boy's shirt, and Ryou blinked, the blushing finally fading slowly. Sighing (in a fashion like Bakura's), Ryou did what he was told._

_Bakura's eyes widened in more surprise, seeing that Ryou had new wounds and scratches, and many more bandages around his skinny body, tainting the heavenly figure that should be never touched... in Bakura's mind._

_"Ryou!! Who was the fucking bastard, mother fucker that did that with you?!" Bakura hissed, wanting to dismember the guy right there and now. "I mean, I know you're freakin' thin, looks damn girly and looks fucking weak-"_

_"Well, thanks a lot, Bakura..." Ryou sighed._

_"BUT NO ONE HAVE THE GODDAMNED RIGHT TO TOUCH YOU IN ANY KIND OF FUCKING HARM WAY!!" Bakura managed to continue, ignoring Ryou's comment. The smaller boy's eyes widened, and his mouth hanged open, and he saw Bakura grab his shirt and toss it at him, stand up and head towards the front door._

_"Bakura, where are you going?" Ryou asked in a hurry, putting his shirt back on as fast and non-painful possible._

_"I'm finding the son of a bitch who dared touching you." Bakura simply said, and Ryou shook his head._

_"But you don't know him!" Ryou said in a weak voice, but Bakura simply narrowed his eyes._

_"I'm finding him even in hell if it's needed." Bakura said in a threatening low voice, making even Ryou shiver._

_When he was halfway exiting the house, Ryou grabbed his arm, and Bakura turned around to glare at him._

_"Why do you keep me here?!" he asked._

_"Please, Bakura, I don't want you to hurt anyone because of me..." he whispered, and Bakura's eyes got a bit wide._

_"What the heck do you mean!? I mean, look at yourself!" he motioned to Ryou's chest. "He just hadn't killed you for God's knows why!!"_

_"I don't want you doing stupidities because of me." Ryou said, and Bakura stopped. "I've seen... you hitting people before..." Ryou admitted, and Bakura would have smirked at his stalking-admission if the situation didn't involve some bastard's blood, the joy of hitting and some killing pleasures._

_"Your point is exactly...?" Bakura raised one eyebrow._

_"I don't want you to hit any more people unnecessarily. I don't like the way people talk about you around..." Ryou looked at the floor. Bakura was stunned. Why did Ryou protect the one that had caused him so much pain?_

_'Oh shit. He's got me now...' Bakura thought. Closing the door behind him, he leaned over and, without any warning, kissing Ryou fully on the lips, well careful about the boy's injuries and all._

_Ryou, even though was totally caught out of guard and, since he was pressed against Bakura's chest firmly due to his strong arms and had to kiss him back occasionally, enjoyed the kiss and much as Bakura did. It lasted until both of them could barely breathe properly._

_When they got their breath back, Bakura claimed Ryou's mouth once again, and tasted his lips as well as the inside of his mouth, their tongues dancing in a bizarre rhythm, since Bakura was totally drawn by Ryou's sweet taste, scent and touch._

_When they parted, Ryou looked slightly amused at Bakura, who just grinned._

_"I can't help it. You're just fucking addicting, attractive and irresistible." He licked his lips, sensing the remains of Ryou's soft taste, as the other one just blushed._

He blinked as the image began to faint, and soon it faded to nothingness. He ran towards where he was, but found nothing. His screams, yells, pleas and wishes were totally ignored by whoever wanted him to suffer an eternal pain, loveless.

Into the dark or the night, the figure watched as the other one cried violently, cursing and hitting the ground with his fists, wanting not to be alone. He smiled faintly, knowing that, just as himself still loved him, Bakura loved the one darkened by the trees and unknown shadows.****

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~ **_Even in death our love goes on _**~

By the time two figures arrived at the Cemetery that night, the body on the ground was already broken, and there was nothing left for them but tears. And almost blood fell from the amethyst and ruby eyes that watched the supreme act of love done by their once mean and cold-hearted friend. Maybe he was kept too much away from love...

~^: **O.w.a.r.i.** :^~

Iris: THAT WAS FREAKING DEPRESSING!!

Lily: O.o I know, but the song is too...

Iris: I never thought you could write this stuff...

Lily: ^^;; Neither did I... *ahem* Please **review and tell me what you thought about it!!**

Iris: And if the ending made you cry, please wait... There'll be a happy epilogue for you guys out there not want to kill Lily...

Lily: Yeah ^^;;.... But JUST if you guys **review!!!**

Bakura: *plotting revenge*

Lily: ^^;;__


	2. Final

A/N: Me glad you liked it people!! ^^;; hahahahaha, I guess that kind of surprised you, didn't it? Lil Lily can be really angsty at times! Hmm... yeah, you guys have nothing to fear. Here's the sweet happy ending for both this fic and "Shades of a soul" readers. Enjoy!

AND REVIEW!

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Disclaimer: ............ no. No own. Why do you think I'm crying in here? *starts crying*

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Warning: This fic contains _shounen ai_, and swearing (we're talking 'bout Bakura in here...), so you've been warned.

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Pairings: Bakura/Ryou, Yami/Yugi and (Yami) Malik/(Malik) Ishtar

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Keys: "__" means talking, '__' means thinking, and _italic_ means flashback

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**__**

Final

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He... breathed. He was breathing. Oxygen passed through his lungs and his chest went up and down in a slow motion. Although... he felt weak. _Very_ weak. As if he couldn't move a finger if he wanted to. He could barely open his eyes...

Not that he wanted to.

Because there was something wrong. Something on his body... on his arm was wrong. Everything was wrong. He was cold... oh so very cold, different from the cold he thought he would be feeling.

And yet he heard voices. Familiar voices. Not the soft voices or foreign voices he thought he was supposed to hear. Familiar voices... he knew all too well. He wanted to run away from them. Run away to where he was _supposed_ to belong. The atmosphere, the breeze, the voices, the feelings... everything was wrong.

Or was _he_ wrong?

Didn't he belong here?

Yet he went into unconsciousness, his world threatening to fall, and his body threatening to break if he kept where he was. The voices didn't acknowledge he had awakened, because he didn't give a sign that he had. So the worry, concern and fear still flew in the air, the tension so thick you could almost grab it with your hands.

One walked from one side to another, mumbling words to himself, trying to calm down and threatening to kill the bastard _himself_ as soon as he wakened, and the other was just sitting, trying to calm the first one with soothing words.

But Bakura was oblivious of everything, as he slept into an ocean of memories, trying to drawn him into its darkened bottom, where some precious memories laid.

~~

__

"Who do they think they are?!" Bakura hissed, and the shorter chocolate-orbed teen beside him sighed, bringing a hand to his eyes.

"My parents?" Ryou asked, and Bakura looked at him with a 'you-know-exactly-what-I-meant-so-don't-try-to-sound-stupid-about-it' kind of look. Ryou just sighed again and leaded both of them to his room, where they would be able to talk in peace, since his parents didn't acknowledge the room at all or just ignored it as if it was nothing into their lives.

"Ryou, no parent say 'You are nothing but a burden, useless, helpless and hopeless piece of nothing to us, so just get the hell outta my sight' to a son like you." Bakura said, raising one eyebrow to emphasize his statement, really adding that last part by his own.

"They don't like me, Bakura. That's just it..." Ryou said silently, making Bakura almost yell an exclamation of amusement.

"'Just' it, Ryou? I'm sure they have your death planned somewhere deep within their mischief and sick minds!" he said, but Ryou didn't hear him. Noticing that Ryou was refusing to hear what he had to say, Bakura knelt in front of Ryou, who sat on his bed, and took the boy's chin in his fingers, making him look into his eyes. "They don't just 'don't like you' or else they wouldn't hit his son to the point of turning him into some kind of selfless, lonely, book-obsessed freak who spends most of his days at a library sitting away from everyone in silence." Ryou's jaw fell.

"Bakura how many times do I have to tell you not to stalk me?" he asked, and Bakura smirked for a brief moment before getting serious again.

"You got my point, didn't you?" he asked, and Ryou sighed again, nodding slightly. "Good. Can I kill them now?"

"Bakura!" Ryou exclaimed, his eyes wide and pushing the other away from him. Bakura snickered.

"Hey, they annoy me, okay?" narrowing his eyes, he snickered again. "And you know when someone annoys AND angers me what happens..."

"Yeah. I still CAN'T believe you beat up Tsume! Bakura, the very same day you had given up almost killing him because of me!" Ryou complained crossing his arms, narrowing his eyes and leaning against his bed, regarding the day when... well, Bakura was really impulsive and unpredictable (in other words they kissed). Bakura went closer to Ryou, and no matter how he tried to keep the distance, Bakura didn't stop until their faces were only inches apart.

"That's because I don't like anyone touching you..." he grinned. "... but me." Leaning forward, Bakura kissed Ryou without any protest coming from the other white-haired boy, leading them both to lay on the bed, Ryou becoming fully subordinated to Bakura, the older one in complete charge.

When the touches didn't stop at flaming French kisses, and tight hugs, with Bakura sliding his hands to the inside of Ryou's shirt, the other one broke the kiss and stared up at the hungry teen on top of him.

"What?" Bakura asked almost innocently, and Ryou raised an eyebrow.

"Take a guess, Mr. I-am-totally-incapable-of-controlling-my-hormones." Ryou said, and Bakura snickered.

"Well, sorry if I... offended you. Just got carried away. Not that you seem able to control your hormones either." Bakura said, and it took Ryou a few seconds before realizing Bakura... had his shirt unbuttoned and Ryou's arms were placed on his exposed chest. Now, when exactly did that happen? "And you know, our position is also kind of compromising..."

"Bakura!" Ryou exclaimed for the second time that day, shoving a laughing Bakura off of him to the other side of the bed, scowling at him.

"You are too defensive." Bakura snickered, and Ryou laughed a mockingly laugh.

"And you are too impulsive." He said, and both stuck their tongues out at each other.

"But can we continue?"

"BAKURA!" said teen laughed even harder, as Ryou looked at him with a face of disbelief, and blushing. He made his way back to Ryou, crawling the whole way until their faces were again only inches apart.

"You may think it sounds stupid and you don't have to tell the world I said this but..." he leaned to Ryou's ear and whispered some words that made his eyes go wide. He looked intensely into Bakura's dark brown eyes before giving him a kiss of his own, Bakura being unable to grin through the kiss. Both were lead to lay on the bed once again, only Ryou was on top of Bakura this time. They parted to breathe, and Ryou noticed Bakura was grinning again.

"So we ARE going to continue after all." he more stated than asked, and Ryou narrowed his eyes.

"You couldn't get back at being romantic or anything along those lines, now could you?" he asked, and Bakura just shook his head, a smirk on his face. With smart movements and taking the other's shock as an advantage, Bakura kissed Ryou again, now on top of him.

"Now I think that's somewhat difficult, don't you?" he asked, and Ryou rolled his eyes. "I love you." Ryou stopped, and looked up at him, seeing that he had spoken that twice that day, out loud this time. "There, are you happy now? We can continue, right?"

"Bakura, you're IMPOSSIBLE!"

"What?"

~~

Voices. More of them. And louder as well. Some seemed desperate, some seemed quiet, some seemed sorrowful... he understood that he couldn't run now. He couldn't go away as he had wanted in the very first place, and probably wouldn't be able to do so anytime soon.

So he decided to breathe and let the air fill him, before opening his eyes. Slowly, two dark brown orbs started to reveal themselves and look around for the source of the annoying voices.

He met sadness, relief, tears and pain in the faces and eyes of those who inhabited the insanely white room, a blur of colors slowly turning into the forms of his friends, who looked at him with expectant and hopeful glances. The first ones that noticed he had awakened were just beside him, and turned their full attention to him, ruby and amethyst teary and concerned.

"Bakura!" the one that sat on a chair beside the bed he was on said, taking a hold if his arm. "We're glad you're okay..." he said smiling, and the one behind him narrowed his eyes at Bakura, holding down his tears and having one arm around the smaller one's shoulders, ruby seeming extremely full of emotions.

"Exactly. And you have no idea how your selfish, stupid, idiotic and insane act worried us all to the point of panic!" he exclaimed, and Bakura rolled his eyes.

"Glad I'm loved." He said, and the others in the room narrowed their eyes threatening at him.

"Bakura, just wait until you get out of here... I bet I'll kill you with _my bare hands_." Violet seemed threateningly serious at the moment, that even kind of scared Bakura.

"Uh... I should fear, right?" he asked the young man standing beside the woman, and he nodded.

"Oh yes, Bakura. Mai has been so worried that we thought she would eat her nails and pull all of her precious blonde hair off." He said, ice blue orbs finally showing some kind of emotion... even though it was sarcasm. Bakura snickered.

"Thanks Mai... I never thought you'd miss me so much. I'm touched." He said, and Mai glared at him more.

"Bakura, it's unknown to the man how you're able to act so coolly after the most stupid act you've ever done in your whole life seems to have brought you near death." The ruby-eyed teen said.

"Talent." Bakura said, and the amethyst-eyed boy giggled.

"I'm glad you're okay, Bakura. We all are actually. Don't mind Yami... he's the one that has been the most worried about you." He said, and Bakura blinked.

"Yugi, you really impressed me there... Yami worried about me? Now apocalypse can come and the hell shall freeze up." He said, and Yami just sighed.

"Shut up, Bakura." He said, and everybody laughed. Yugi seemed to do a sign to Seto and Mai, who looked at each other and nodded too, exiting the room just after that. A moment of silence passed then... either thinking on what to say.

Bakura, on the other hand, was thinking on what _not_ to say... or if he should say anything at all. He obviously wasn't dead as 'planned' and that had brought him to the point of depression again, even though he masked that all too well with the cool attitude. In truth he was wanting to finish the incomplete job and die, jumping out of the hospital window, and if that didn't kill him, throwing himself in front of the first car he saw.

"Bakura..." Yami began, and said teen looked at him questionably. "... why did you do it?" he asked, and Bakura looked away. Yugi shifted in his seat, and looked down at his hands on his lap, looking as if he was trying to hold back the tears that formed in his eyes.

"When we arrived there... We thought you were dead." He said quietly, not even the assuring hand of Yami on his shoulder making him relax.

~~ **Flashback** ~~

__

"Are you sure?" Yami asked his little companion, as they entered the cemetery. He didn't like that place... it mocked him and tried to make him believe that it was a mistake that Yugi was alive, and that he should go away. Join all the lost souls that remained there, trying to rest in peace.

But Yugi had called him late at night, sounding terrified and with a voice muffled by tears, and that had gotten him immediately up and he waited for Yugi, that said that he had to see him at that very moment...

The little one told him that he had had a dream, in which a boy that looked extremely like Bakura told him to go to the cemetery, and that if he didn't go soon, something bad would happen. Maybe it was because of his coma-state, but Yugi now felt as if he had some kind of... connection with some people he had never seen before entering his dreams and asking him for help. Usually, they asked him to visit them, and it usually was in that place near the park, in the cemetery (in which Yugi had already placed uncountable flowers by graves of people he had never met before), or in the own dreams... But they just wanted to see him, thank him, and go away.

This boy seemed different though, because the dream was extremely quick, just enough for him to give Yugi his message and his figure was strangely... fading...

At that information, Yami gave no complaint or said anything but accompanied him towards the cemetery.

"I... don't know..." Yugi said, and Yami sighed, placing his arm around Yugi's shoulder. Suddenly, he saw something. Something white, that contrasted perfectly with the dark atmosphere. Showing it to Yugi, they both rushed towards the figure.

Their breaths were caught in their throats as they recognized the figure as Bakura, his blood soaking the earth beneath him, lying just before the grave of his beloved Ryou.

"Yugi... Call the emergency... now." Yami breathed, and Yugi nodded, trying to control the tears that threatened to come. He quickly rushed to the nearest telephone.

Yami walked towards the lying figure and tried checking out for the pulse. As lost as the situation seemed... the broken boy was still alive.

'Why... Why my friend?'

~~

"I should have been." Bakura said, and both boys looked up at him surprised. "It isn't as Ryou's death didn't affect me more than those first months. It ate my insides as a deadly virus, trying to consume my entire self... It affected me as if a part of me had died, as if my own soul was fading. I didn't mention it... it hurt. A fucking lot. But I guess I couldn't take it anymore..." Bakura explained, something that just hurt the other two further.

"What 'bout your friends, Bakura?" Yami asked, his voice cold. "Do you think we were gone too? We were there. We're _here_, and don't think you're doing that anymore." Yami said, and felt Yugi clenching tightly to his arm, trying to catch his attention.

"Yami..." he said, his voice soft, nodding briefly, making Yami sigh.

"You were lucky, Bakura." Yami said.

"You have no idea." Yugi said, smiling to Bakura, as he stood up and along with Yami left the room.

Bakura didn't think he was lucky at all. He survived? No luck. He still had a life to live, there still would be a tomorrow? No luck. He was once more taken away from Ryou? No fu-

"Bakura?" a voice from the doorway made Bakura snap his head immediately towards the source, as if in an attempt to tell the person to go away. But he never had to. His voice left him the moment his eyes met the subject that he so prompted wanted to dismiss. He felt dead, to say at least. Or too alive. He didn't know how to place it, and he personally wasn't looking forward at trying to.

"... Ryou?" he called, this time checking his own voice as if trying to make himself believe that he was still awake, that this Ryou wasn't one of those daydreams he had had at the park. This place wasn't _haunted_, he was still (somewhat) sane, and hallucinations were not part of his system at the present moment.

The other one trembled, tears falling helplessly down his cheeks, trying to walk towards the bed where Bakura laid, but his legs felt weak, and he just wasn't too successful at trying to control his emotions. He never was.

Before he could think straight, he rushed forward and threw himself on the arms of his confused, perplexed and surprised lover, that wanted nothing but to comprehend what was going on. He hugged the smaller one tighter, as if in an attempt to prove himself that he was awake.

It was real. Everything was.

"Ryou...?" he asked again. The other one sobbed and looked at him. He couldn't move too much, since he was still weak, but he managed to touch the other one's face. The same smooth, perfect, fragile skin... the same look in the big brown eyes...

"I'm here, Bakura. I really am..." he whispered, his eyes showing happiness. "They... tired to kill me... but they didn't. Somehow, they just pretended I was dead, and instead, I was kept here in a critical condition all this time. I'm sorry, Bakura... I'm so, so sorry... You were probably broken... You almost _died_ for me!" he sobbed, and Bakura could do nothing but hug the smaller one. Bakura was _not_ one of words, not even with his lover.

"You mean to tell me... your parents pretended you were dead... and you were actually here?" he concluded and Ryou nodded. "Those bastards..." he mumbled, but Ryou made a shushing sound and placed a finger on his lips, a smile on his features.

"I'm okay, Bakura... that's probably what matters the most at the moment..." he said, and placed a soft kiss on the other one's lips. He just adjusted himself comfortably on his lover's embrace, and closed his eyes. Bakura just hid his face on Ryou's smooth hair, and closed his eyes, drifting to unconsciousness once again.

Outside, all the others were utterly happy that Bakura, the only one that seemed unaffected when it came to emotions, was once again united with the only reason he still... breathed.

Everyone blinked as they heard loud sounds of crashing and looked at each other, sighing and sweatdropping.

Inside the room, Ryou blinked at the sound. Looking up a little, all he could do was sigh and giggle.

"Man, at least if he wanna die we're in a hospital already..." Mai mused, and Ryou heard Yami's laugh and Yugi's giggle.

"I'M UMPH... IT HURTS, IT HURTS!" someone cried out from far away, and everyone blinked.

"Uh oh..." they all said.

"MALIK!!" Ishtar called, and everyone shook their heads.

~* **owari** *~

Lily: ^^;; lol, so how was it? I didn't mess it up, did I?

Iris: Just pray, Lily...

Lily: *sighs* Yeah... ANYWAY, this is over, please **review**, and I'll see you guys in a soon future! ^^ See ya!


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